I hate the dentist.

After a particularly traumatizing appointment a few days ago, I started to think more about where this anxiety comes from. I wasn’t tortured by my dentist as a child, my teeth have always been great, I’ve never even needed anything more than a couple of tiny fillings.

As I lay in the chair, gulping to keep the tears back, feeling equally sorry for myself and the poor girl doing my cleaning, I was mortified by the fact that I could not simply act like an adult and pull myself together.

I stole a peek at the patients on either side of me. Neither of them looked like they were particularly tortured by the whirring, grinding metal sounds and overpowering mint smells and foreign objects stuffed into their open mouths. In fact, they looked most concerned by my sporadic hiccups that were a result of trying to cry without being able swallow.

Lying belly-up with your mouth wide open and a pair of latex gloves fingering your tonsils is one of the most vulnerable positions I can think of being in.

Source: imdb.com via Katie on Pinterest

I feel like the guinea pig in a science experiment when they lean me way back and shine that terrible light right into my eyes and tell me to ‘say aaaahhh’.

The experience is similar to getting the oil changed in my car. At the end of the appointment, they hand me that list of all the things I need to get fixed—somehow, my brakes always urgently need to be replaced—and I know that I’m being scammed. I don’t trust the diagnosis of cavities that must get filled and x-rays that have to get taken and follow-up appointments that really need to be scheduled.

I have this very strong opinion about dental work.

I see it as a privilege, something accessible to me because I happen to live in a culture that values dental care. Of course it is important to an extent, I can begrudgingly recognize the benefit of taking care of your teeth.

But let’s be honest.

No, it is not necessary for every 13-year-old who walks into an orthodontist’s office to be slapped with a set of braces and a $5,000 bill. I remember feeling like I would be ‘uncool’ if I didn’t have braces in my middle-school years; everyone else had them, and they all got to coordinate rubber band colors and talk about the horrors of tightening appointments. Everyone had them.

Just like most of the world’s population lives with their wisdom teeth, simply because they do not have the option to remove them.

I have been told for years now that it’s time to get mine taken out—and that I should really just do all four while I’m at it, because hey, why not?—but no one can really tell me why it’s necessary.

They could crowd my mouth and make my teeth crooked, or get terribly infected, or not heal because I waited until I was too old or…. This is reminiscent of the braces fad. Yes, any of those things could happen, but realistically aren’t I also at risk for appendicitis or tonsilitis, and I don’t see anyone rushing to remove my appendix and tonsils just because they might cause a problem.

photo: Olivia Gray (copyright 2010)

I appreciate the dentists of the world, I really do.

I also support dental missions in the developing world, I think it’s a very noble cause. I actually did my part by introducing toothbrushes to the children in a rural village in Madagascar. None of them had ever even imagined that anything existed with a purpose of cleaning their teeth.

I sat them all down in a circle and demonstrated exaggerated brushing motions, much to their amusement. The excitement among them when I passed out the fluorescent brushes was on par with how I remember Christmas morning as a child. They poked them around in their mouths and spit and giggled and excitedly compared toothbrush colors—their enthusiasm was overwhelming.

For a lot of those kids, that may be the only toothbrush they will ever own, and the extent of the dental care they receive in their lives.

My clean, straight, white, privileged teeth don’t have a lot to complain about when you look at it that way.

With that in mind, I have made a resolution to work towards a better dental attitude.

I will politely decline the extraction of my wisdom teeth, and stubbornly stand by my opinions about unnecessary dental work. I will remain forever skeptical of all the terrible procedures that the dentist recommends, and I am still allowed a few tears when the time comes for a cleaning.

I don’t have to learn to like the dentist, but I will give a valiant effort to summon up gratitude for the privilege of a healthy smile.

About Olivia Gray

Olivia Gray does everything possible to disprove the theory that youth is wasted on the young. She is a world traveler, inspired by exotic places and new faces, unknown customs and foreign tongues. Her work has included fostering infants in West Africa, island-hopping across South-East Asia, developing rural healthcare in Madagascar, building homes in the Philippines, and sunbathing in South America. Visit her website to glimpse into her wanderlust.

[…] Dr. B is always friendly but he was particularly relaxed yesterday, probably because he had some cancellations. When he came in to check my teeth, his assistant and I were talking but I was already in a prone position, prepared to close my eyes and open my mouth at his command. […]

Believe me, I don't enjoy the dental sessions. But some men think of it as kinky especially if a blonde dentist works on them.. But for me, I just want it over. Next month, I'm bound for the dentist once more.

Our fear to visit a dental clinic becomes the motivation of a certain dental marketing company. They are now promoting good oral health by making and formulating different strategies that can turn those people who are afraid to being not afraid.

I think, almost every human got terrified with the dentist especially in their younger years. Seeing a dentist and his equipment means pain. But through the years, as we mature, the more we realize the importance on dentistry in our lives. I realized this when I applied for a job and I had some dilemmas with my dental records. There's no way to fix things but to seek help from a dentist.
Doc. B.,

At least I know I am not alone. I've felt the same way for so long but couldn't put into words quite so elegantly as you did. It's true, all those sounds and water being sucked out of your mouth and the fact is you can't see exactly what they're doing really makes you want to punch the doctor for making the corners of your mouth dry and cracked by the end of it. Thanks for the article.

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